This invention relates to a process and system for controlling an air-conditioning system for a motor vehicle interior which has several, separately controllable air-conditioning ducts for different interior zones of the vehicle. Such processes are known particularly for controlling modern air-conditioning systems with two or more separately controllable air-conditioning ducts which are used for conditioning zones of the vehicle interior which differ with respect to the intensity. In this case, by way of automatic functions, frequently a largely automatic control or regulating of the interior air conditioning takes place, for which usually continuously controllable actuators, such as fans and/or ventilation flaps, are activated. By means of this conventional, automatic air conditioning, the vehicle is air-conditioned by way of all air-conditioning ducts uniformly in the whole interior, also where momentarily no vehicle occupants are situated.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,201 and German Patent Document DE 40 40 846 A1, processes for controlling an air-conditioning system for an interior are described in which this control takes place, among other things, as a function of the sensor signal of a solar sensor.
On the other hand, devices for recognizing a seat occupancy are known. Thus, in German Patent Document DE 41 10 701 A1, a vehicle with an electric seat heater is disclosed in the case of which parts of the seat heater are designed as devices for recognizing a seat occupancy. A sensing system for recognizing a seat occupancy described in German Patent Document DE 41 10 936 A1 is used there for controlling a front passenger air bag as a function of whether the front passenger seat is occupied. Another seat occupancy sensing system is indicated in German Patent Document DE 43 22 159 A1 in which, as a usage purpose, in addition to the control of a front seat passenger air bag, the determination of a vehicle occupancy factor is mentioned by means of which it is to be determined with how many persons the vehicle has covered which mileage.
The invention is based on the technical problem of providing a process for controlling an air-conditioning system for the interior of a motor vehicle by means of which an air conditioning for a vehicle interior is achieved which meets the requirements comparatively well.
This problem is achieved by a system and process wherein the plurality of separate air-conditioning outlet ducts are controlled individually as a function of vehicle seat occupancy. By using a corresponding seat occupancy sensing system, it is provided in the case of this process to control the individual air-conditioning ducts, which are in each case assigned to different zones of the vehicle interior, as a function of the recognized seat occupancy. By means of this process, the air-conditioning effect can be increased with respect to the conventional air-conditioning method, which is unspecific with respect to the seat occupancy, in the areas in which vehicle occupants are momentarily situated, while it can be kept lower in zones of the interior in which no vehicle occupants are situated. As a result, an air conditioning can be carried out which is more targeted with respect to space and which, in comparison to the air conditioning which is unspecific concerning the seat occupancy, has the advantage that air-conditioning output may be saved in the interior zones which are occupied by vehicle occupants or, when an air-conditioning output exists, the desired air conditioning can be reached more rapidly.
In a further development of preferred embodiments of the invention, the process contains a targeted control of those air-conditioning ducts of a plurality of air-conditioning ducts of a heating and/or air-conditioning system during a heating or cooling operation in such a manner that the air-conditioning ducts assigned to the interior zones with the occupied vehicle seats are controlled for generating a higher air-conditioning output than the other air-conditioning ducts. This promotes the fast reaching of the desired air conditioning in those interior zones in which the occupants are seated in the vehicle.
In the case of a process according to further developed embodiments according to the invention, the control of the air-conditioning system for the interior takes place in a combined manner as a function of the seat occupancy as well as of the output signal of a solar sensor. By means of this process, an air-conditioning system for the interior equipped with a solar sensor can be controlled particularly according to the requirements also in operating conditions in which the solar sensor influences the air conditioning.
A further development of preferred embodiments the invention relates to an object which is suitable for controlling air-conditioning systems for the interior which comprise a controllable window darkening device. According to the process, a seat-occupancy-dependent controlling of this window darkening device is provided by means of which, for example, as required, only those panes are darkened whose assigned vehicle seat is occupied.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.